The Love of My Life - The Story of Meelo and Tuyen
by ayziks
Summary: Meelo is smitten by a lovely young Earth Kingdom girl Tuyen in his search with his sisters for Korra. He yearns to be with Tuyen again and leaves home alone to see if she feels the same way about him. T for romance and violent Meelo fight against an abusive earth bender. All characters property of Nickelodeon.
1. Chapter 1 - The Longing

**Title: "**The Love of My Life – the Story of Tuyen and Meelo": Chapter 1

**Author:** ayziks

**Rating:** T – romance (Meelyen, Kainora, Tenma)

**Summary: **Meelo is smitten by a lovely young Earth Kingdom girl Tuyen in his search with his sisters for Korra. He yearns to be with Tuyen again and seeks permission to leave home alone to see if she feels the same way about him. All characters property of Nickelodeon.

**Author's notes: **For my 75th Fan Fiction Net story, a long time in coming as I have concentrated on my chapterized stories in other genres, I return to my roots of the Avatar universe, writing about several of my favorite lesser TLOK characters in an attempt to tie up their character arcs. In less than two minutes air time in Korra Season 4 episode "The Calling". I instantly shipped the cute pairing of Tuyen and Meelo. I always wondered what would happen if the creators took that story the next step. And I hope that you wonder about that too and want to take that journey with me. This story will run just a few chapters, and if you like it and let me know, perhaps I will extend it. I've experienced a couple of examples of childhood romance happen for real in my life with two lifetime friends and with one of my own children so we'll see where this goes.

**…**

It was finally a time of peace for The United Republic of Nations. All the crises were, for a moment, finished. The threats to the world order - the Equalists and their hypocrite leader Amon, the Harmonic Convergence, the Red Lotus, and the Earth Empire were all over. Even though some of the leaders of the world blamed Korra for so much change and destruction, the people of the world realized that she was responsible for resolving all of those crises, no matter how gut-wrenching and world-changing the outcome. All of the citizenry knew in each situation she'd prevented much more damage and suffering and death, at risk to her own life several times over.

They loved their new Avatar as much as the Avatar whose statue graced Yue Bay and continued watch over the new spirit portal whose affect on the next 10,000 years of human and spirit interactions was unknown. But at least there would be a mankind to witness those years because of her and it was itself a beacon of hope and unity. The President's decision to rebuild a modern downtown away from the sacred portal site was a wise one.

Korra and Asami had gone to the spirit world quietly virtually unannounced after Varrick and Zhu Li took off on their honeymoon in his world-girdling yacht.

But life for the busy Air Family was pretty much back to normal. Or so it seemed, as Pema called out her usual gathering call, "Time for dinner, everyone!"

At dinner, Jinora was mostly quiet, which was normal, mainly because of Meelo and Ikki's domination of conversation. Rohan still wasn't talking much yet, and it was fun to watch him try to contribute and help. He was a very cute boy.

After dinner everyone scattered to their own activities. Meelo made a beeline to the art room and closed the door. He did that a lot lately.

Ikki had bounded off somewhere with Rohan and all they heard was the waning trail of her one-sided chatter with him. Tenzin shook his head in amusement, "That poor boy will _never_ learn to talk if his sister does all the talking _for_ him."

Pema smiled, "Yes, dear. But she sure is a good air bending teacher to him. He responds better to her than anyone else, including _you_," she snickered, commenting about the toddling air bender's recently discovered talent.

Jinora anxiously sought out and went for a walk hand-in-hand with Kai, who was waiting impatiently for her just outside the residence, and they quickly went over to the training area for some seclusion. Tenzin could still see them. Unlike dinner, her conversation was animated, but they could see him cuddle her in his arms, followed by a hug and kiss, much to Tenzin's dismay. Before he go could intervene and break up the affection, Pema scolded him, "Leave them _alone_, dear."

Tenzin raised a thick eyebrow, _"That's_ what I am afraid of, Pema."

Pema gave him a stern look, "Tenzin, they are no different than your mother and father at their age and no less in love than they were then. And besides, they're cute. Get used to her going to him first for the rest of our lives dear."

"I know. I know."

Tenzin got up from the table, kissed his wife, and stated, "That was a good meal, Pema, but it's time for me to address the evening classes at the lecture hall. I could be late. We're going to start the discussion series on why the air bending spontaneously came back to balance the world. And why it selected bad people as well as good, and people who don't even want the skill. And why some nations never experienced air benders suddenly appearing. Just leave the light on. We invited several spirits to join us to give us their perspective on what happened. Bumi got that to happen."

Pema's eyes gleamed at Tenzin, "Yes dear. I'm very excited for you. This is the first lecture ever with spirits. I know how much you've wanted this to happen."

As he passed by the young couple he deliberately interrupted their affection, "'You coming, Jinora? This is your favorite subject."

"Sure Daddy! Come on Kai, let's go!"

The couple held hands tightly, and almost skipped along together, but Tenzin said nothing.

…

The spontaneous reappearance of air bending discussions went late, and Tenzin was exhausted, but intellectually satisfied at the direction and conclusions that were reached so far, and looked forward to next week's class. As he went by Meelo's room, he noted the bed was empty.

Meelo had been acting strange lately. He was impatient and moody, and he didn't have much appetite, just playing with his food. He spent a lot of time alone. As near as Tenzin could tell, he wasn't going through 'the change' prematurely. It was something else.

Tenzin had been ignoring Pema's admonishments the past several nights to talk to his son about his strange hermit-like behavior. She'd said, "Tenzin. Talk to your son. I don't want to handle this one."

Something happened out there in the Earth Kingdom to Meelo with his sisters in their search for Korra that was different, deeper, and longer lasting. He knew that time to talk was now, and knew where to go.

Tenzin heard activity in the art studio and saw the light on underneath the door. He opened it without knocking.

Meelo had a shocked look on his face, and tried to quickly cover or put away all his work. He air bent many of the pictures into drawers or behind things. Papers flew everywhere and the place was a total mess.

The studio was covered with all varieties of drawn or painted images of only one girl, with long pretty curls, straight cut bangs, and in the detailed paintings of her, wore long a green outfit. She was truly beautiful and her eyes and smile were absolutely captivating. She looked to be about 12 and in nearly every drawing or painting, she had a basket full of yellow orange flowers. There were so many compositions of her in all media - chalk, charcoal, pastels, oils, inks, and pencil. There was even one started in macaroni noodles. There were so many pencil drawings, and some were only details of her eyes, or hair or face, or delicate hands. His son was an extremely talented artist, but this exceeded all bounds of his output of truly quality work.

But the massive amount of work on this single girl was disturbingly obsessive. He made a quick scan for nude paintings of the girl but saw nothing. That was a subject he truly wanted to avoid, but he couldn't rule anything out.

Despite the shock of all this, Meelo had amazing art talent that even his Grandfather Aang would be truly impressed and even jealous of. There was no question from whom he got the art talents genetically. Tenzin couldn't even draw a stick figure.

Tenzin asked sternly, with arms crossed, locking eyes with the boy, frozen in the middle of the studio caught surrounded by his art of an Earth Kingdom girl, "Meelo _what_ is going on here? And _why _are you not in bed?"

"Um, not a thing Dad. nothing at all. This is my... um… portrait class homework with Huan. I'm behind on the projects, so I'm… uh… catching up."

Even without Lin's truth detecting sense, Tenzin knew Meelo as lying like a lazy basset-sloth napping on a porch on hot summer afternoon sun.

Tenzin raised an eyebrow, _"All_ of the same girl, Meelo? Surely, Huan would want you to explore multiple human subjects to draw. What's going on here?"

"Uhh," he lied again, "this was supposed to be an in-depth multi-media study of a single subject," but scuffed the ground with his hands behind his back, not meeting his father's gaze.

Tenzin's brow fretted, and he asked kindly but firmly, "Meelo, please tell me the truth of what's really going on, son. I _will_ understand."

"I'll try Dad. It's… uhh… complicated."

Tenzin asked, "Are you feeling well, son? You really are not yourself lately. At all."

Meelo tried to cover up his heartache, "Sure Dad. I'm always feeling great. I feel juuuust fine."

His fake smile belied very sad eyes underneath those enormous thick lashes.

Tenzin confronted him, "You and I _both_ know that isn't the case right now."

Meelo sighed and was very crestfallen, and being challenged to tell the truth allowed him to unload. He sat down on the studio floor aided by a cushion of air, "Yes Dad, it's true. Not for a while, actually."

His father joined him cross-legged on the studio floor, making sure he didn't tear or sit on a portrait of the pretty little girl. In fact he picked up an ink and pencil drawing of her, admired it, and asked, "These are all very good, Meelo. You have such a talent. Let's make this easy shall we? Son, tell me about this beautiful girl. Is she imaginary? Or real?"

Meelo cast admiring eyes toward the image and his dad understood a lot instantly, "Uhh… She's real. Very real," he said, hesitated for a moment, but asked boldly, "Dad I need to talk to you about girls. Not my sisters. I know all too much about them."

Tenzin clarified, "What kind of girls do you mean?"

"You know. _Real_ girls."

"Your sisters are real girls."

"Well, I'm stuck forever with them. I didn't get a choice."

"Meelo!"

"You know what I mean, Dad, like you're stuck with Aunt Kya."

"I get it son," the boy was blunt but still had a way with words.

"I mean 'real girls' like in 'I want to be around a special girl more than anything'. You know, like when Jinora and Kai go and smooch all the time kind of 'real girls'."

Tenzin's eyebrow raised all the way up, "What do you mean 'smooch all the time'? How come I _never _see that?"

"They're really good at avoiding you. Jinora uses her spirit sense to sense _you_, Dad. They stop or go hide and kiss out in the gardens. Oops…" he realized he just blew their cover.

Tenzin turned a deep shade of red. He immediately thought of a lecture for Jinora about misuse of gifts of the spirit. In extreme discomfort, he blurted out to his son, "This isn't about _them_; this is about _you._ Aren't you a little _young_ to talk about being attractive to women? You're _nine."_

"Nine is old enough to know about boys and girls liking each other. Or think they like each other, or _want _to like each other. I'm so confused, Dad. This is why I need to talk to you. This is about one boy and one girl. Me. And a girl I met when we searched for Korra."

"Slow down, boy, slow down. That's a lot of different things. But you can always come to me about that stuff."

"I know I know. You say that to Korra all the time."

"Well it's true son. You can ask me anything."

Buoyed in confidence with that promise, Meelo stood up and struck a pose of a hip socialite, and asked, "So, Dad, am I a ladies' man? Do I have what it takes to be a good looking, suave, and debonair 'hit' with girls? Everyone thinks air benders are cool now, especially with our awesome wing suits and us saving everyone and doing good deeds and stuff!"

Tenzin smiled, "Well that's not really something that we air benders seek in life, son. That's very self-centered, Meelo. We seek to find a kindred spirit to share a life together equally with a woman who shares our view of life, and not be drawn by simple physical attractiveness. Good looks are fleeting."

Tenzin heard a 'harrumph' from the hallway. It was Pema - she just was 'passing by' to check on them for a moment. Pema explained, "Don't mind me, boys, I'm just doing chores! I'm always behind with this busy family, and late night is the only free time I have looking after Rohan all day."

Both 'boys' rolled their eyes at Pema. She just wanted to know if they were all right. And what was really going on. She'd been there awhile.

Meelo got a very serious look and crossed his arms at her well-meant but unneeded intrusion, "Mother, this is a man to man talk, if you please."

Tenzin bit his lip at his precocious son to stifle a laugh, but Meelo took the words right out his mouth. Only he could get away with that with Pema.

Tenzin quickly added, "Beauty is fleeting except for your mother's timeless good looks!"

Meelo knew his dad was trying to recover, "I thought so Dad. I will take that as a 'yes' I am a ladies' man."

He made a smooth dance move and finger-combed his hair like a socialite would, and snapped his fingers and held a pose.

Pema chuckled at her son's behavior, "Well when you get older, probably, son. You are quite handsome. You're just _cute_ now."

That is not the answer Meelo wanted, "I get that a lot," he complained, thinking of the elderly woman who pinched his cheek. It still hurt just thinking about it.

Pema lilted, "I'm going to bed now boys, have a nice chat. Turn out the lights when you go to bed. And put the lid down, _please…_ Tenzin… you'd think after nearly two decades of marriage you'd learn. I darn near fell in the other night, dear."

With Pema safely out of earshot they continued their conversation. They exchanged looks of 'well… she meant well…'.

"So what do you think, Dad?"

"I think you are too _young_ to have a girl friend."

"What if I tell you I already _have _one?" he smiled proudly.

Tenzin just shook his head, "OK, son, where is this going?"

"There was this girl. The girl in the pictures, Dad. She's an Earth Kingdom girl. A flower girl. I met her when we were looking for Korra. She was um… _really_ nice. She didn't make fun of me when I um… exaggerated some things. I was nervous. I told her she was beautiful."

Tenzin smiled, "Was she?"

"Yes, Dad. Very… but Ikki made her leave because we had to keep searching. She gave me a flower."

"I think I understand now what this girl has to do with your… umm… _fascination_ with this young girl in the pictures."

Meelo pleaded, "Dad. I want to find her. Meet her again."

With Meelo, there was always a catch or an angle.

Tenzin said sadly, "But I don't plan to be in that part of the world anywhere near the swamp for some time, son."

"Well Dad I'm old enough to go back there by myself."

He was right. He and his sisters already proved they could travel the world like their grandfather, and Tenzin asked, "Why?"

"I need to find her. I want to see if she likes me. She sure seemed to."

Tenzin wanted to say yes but needed to test his son's resolve and maturity with this responsibility of solo flight, "Hmmm. I don't know Meelo. You and your sisters had a real challenge on your last trip. And that was with three of you."

"Dad, it's different now. Kuvira's people are all gone now. The spirit vines are not attacking anymore. And besides your father traveled the world at my age _alone_. Before all the awful stuff happened."

"Well…"

_"Please,_ Dad. I never wanted anything so much in my life – well… except my blue tats – and you already trusted me go with Ikki and Jinora. I'm a much better outdoorsman without dragging my sisters along. They just slowed me down."

"All right. You can go," he agreed even he knew he'd have a hard time explaining to Pema why their second youngest could go on a solo journey.

They hugged, "Thanks Dad."

"What's this pretty girl's name?" Tenzin asked.

"Tuyen."

"It's an unusual name. But a nice one. She does look like her namesake 'angel spirit'. You should be able to find her. If she wants to be found. _Only_ do what she is comfortable with, Meelo. Do not make her feel pressured by you searching for her. To some people, that is called stalking, which is very bad. Mind everything she and her parents tell you to do. Be a gentleman please. You represent the Air Nation wherever you go son."

"Yes dad I know. I'm Aang's grandson."

"And can you dial back your ego a little. And bodily functions."

"Daaaadd."

…

All morning long the following day Meelo was all aflutter about going to find Tuyen. They were all gathered in the family's living room. Pema thought searching for his female friend was cute.

Ikki teased Meelo with her best sing song voice, "Meelo's gonna go find his girlfriend and get all smoochy smoochy!"

"Ikki! Be kind to your brother," demanded Pema.

Ikki whined, "Yes Mother, but she's really pretty. I saw her. Meelo is going to _want_ to kiss her. And how come Meelo gets to go on a trek and I don't?"

"Well, Ikki. Think of one and we might just let you."

Her eyes went wide, "Oh… well… Really? Umm. Let me think about that, Daddy."

Everyone had a really good laugh. They'd never seen Ikki speechless in her entire life. Jinora bit back a grin. She was sitting on one of the cane mats on the floor reading one of Katara's old journals alongside Kai. She was leaning against him. The 14 year olds were happy to just be in each others' company, and reading Katara's journals was a convenient excuse to be close while around her parents. They wanted her mom and dad to leave so they could steal some kisses in between reading. The children knew that too. And so did her father.

"A little distance please, kids," Tenzin scolded.

Jinora was indignant, "Dad. I'm fourteen, almost fifteen. I _know_ how to behave around my boyfriend," and in fact scooted a little closer in defiance.

The term 'boyfriend' had been another long family discussion not even a week ago, but Kai had been so gentlemanly and gallant asking permission to be her boyfriend to her parents they couldn't say no.

"Some days I think I will never get used to being parents of teenagers and pre-teens."

"Well you wanted at least four, Tenzin, and they don't stay babies forever," Pema smiled.

"Well that was before the balanced spirit world made new air benders and we were going to have to create all the new air benders ourselves."

"Now you tell me dear!" she laughed. She hadn't told him yet she was carrying their fifth child.

Meelo spent almost a week hovering over his drawing table adding lettering to all the art he had drawn of her in full length robe converting the art to posters. His tongue stuck out in concentration. The stack of pictures got bigger and bigger and he was about ready to go.

Pema went in one day to bring her son a snack and a tea, "What are you doing so busy in here son?"

"Well I only know her first name and she didn't tell me where she lived. I have to find her by putting these posters up all over the town to get her to come to me."

"Have you ever thought of just going to the market and just waiting to see if she shows up? If she sells flowers she might be there every day."

"Oh. Well no I didn't mom. Great thinking."

"Well at least you have these posters to hang if she doesn't. So there isn't any waste. Besides if I was Tuyen I would be flattered that you went to all that trouble to meet again. And she'll love your art of her, dear."

The big day came.

Meelo hugged everyone goodbye, and his mother handed him a bag of food. He had his sleeping roll, a spare glider suit, and some more traditional air bender yellow and orange clothes.

"I hope you learned your lesson from last time little brother," cautioned Jinora.

"Yes Jinora. I won't waste any food. Love you Mom and Dad... see you later."

His parents hugged each other as they watched him rise into the sky on Pepper.

"He's getting so grown up, Tenzin, our little boy. Off to find the one he called 'the girl of his dreams'. I'm glad we're brave enough to let him go, even though I'll really worry about him."

Tenzin explained, "We have to let him work this out, Pema dear. Maybe she feels the same about him, wondering if she'll ever see him again, or maybe not. Or maybe she has a boyfriend already. What better way to find out than to let them finish the conversation they started. He'll learn a lot about girls and growing up. And no matter what we'll be here for him when he gets back."

Pema reflected fondly, "There might be something there, Tenzin, I was barely 16 when you won my heart. Your mother was in love with your 12 year old father at only 14 herself. It just took a year to figure it all out."

Tenzin scoffed, "16 is not nine. Or 14. Or even 12. They're a long way from boyfriend and girlfriend Pema."

"We'll see dear," she smiled and kept waving as she slipped her hand into Tenzin's, something that would never get old.

…

**Author's Note:** So that was Chapter 1. There's only a couple more. If you like it I'd like to hear from you.


	2. Chapter 2 - Searching For Tuyen

**The Love of My Life Chapter 2**

**Authors Notes: **Just to warn those used to my writing for ATLA and TLOK, you know I often present a starker, more violent reality of those worlds than Nick can present. This is one of those stories. The remaining chapters present some pretty dark aspects, specifically with depiction of and symptoms of abuse or threatened abuse and assault by an adult in a position of trusted authority over children, with the promise of deliverance from an untenable situation, but remains at a T rating. I could have given you a purely fluff piece with Tuyen and Meelo, and I sure have done plenty of those with other characters, but this way seemed more challenging for Meelo.

But there is _plenty_ of fluff between them at the end! :)

…

Meelo and Pepper were cruising along about 3000 feet altitude and the air was pleasant and cool with puffy white clouds above them in an otherwise beautiful blue sky. He followed the same flight path as their search for Korra, but had only one destination in mind.

He'd been gone only a few hours, and was very impatient to get there, but he didn't want to wear out Pepper by flying faster or not taking breaks, so he just swallowed hard and persevered. As the second youngest child in a really big family, and constantly surrounded by the huge extended family that was the Air Nation, he really was not used to long, periods of silence alone. He improvised.

He turned to the little flying lemur flying alongside him catching bugs for snacks, "Poki, does Tuyen like me?"

His squeaks and chirps sounded affirmative.

"Yeah, you're right as always. I think so too."

Meelo needed some more reassurance. And voices.

He rubbed the head of his mount, and asked, "How about you Pepper, what do you think? Does Tuyen wanna be my girlfriend?"

The great animal's pleasant lowing seemed pretty positive about that prospect, too.

"Thank you, Pepper. I think you're right too. And yes, she _is _pretty!"

But that wasn't enough. He spotted a flock of migrating turtle ducks below them, so they wheeled and descended and flew alongside, co-altitude with the reptile-birds.

He flew near the flock, and introduced himself, "Hi everybody! I'm Meelo. I'm like all of you. I can fly! I'm an _air_ bender."

They all quacked excitedly, but more in surprise than in fear to be sharing the air with a human and a huge beast flying beside them. However they did sense both his and Pepper's air bending and inherent peacefulness, and so were in fact kindred creatures of flight.

He listened to their quacking and even though he had no idea what they were saying, he responded, "Thank you. I'm please to meet all of you, too. I see lots of mates here. You all must have a lot of experience on life and love. Could I trouble you for your advice on _my_ brand new love life?"

He listened intently and sensed no changes in their random quacking. Hearing no objections from the flock, he continued, "So… I met this girl. A _human_ girl, mind you. She's beautiful. We're on this street corner and I'm being all cool and everything. But I only got a couple of minutes with her before I had to leave. My stupid sister _made_ me leave. Do you think she'll go for me if I come back?"

The quacking got louder and sounded very supportive to Meelo, so he went with it. "You drakes – and hens - are the _best!_ I think she likes me too. Thanks!"

Very content with the situation, even if it was totally imagined, Meelo and Pepper slowly banked away from the flock, climbed, and kept going. A couple hours later the spirit animal/human pair rested and snacked along a stream he remembered on their first journey. They both napped awhile, and when they awoke, Pepper lapped up a lot of water. The location seemed almost familiar.

"I'm close," he whispered. His excitement and anxiety were both competing and peaking. The anxiety was winning, fearing Tuyen would reject him, or be fearful of his return.

He told himself, doing the air bender relaxation exercises he knew so well, "Relax Meelo. Be cool. Be calm. She's out there wondering the same thing, 'Will he come back?'"

He tried to smile.

…

Meelo couldn't be more correct. In the fields outside an ancient earth bending shrine and crumbling monastery, a pre-teen girl with long brown hair labored in the hot sun with little cover. She was denied a broad-brim cane hat as a part of her punishment for daring to do or say anything to anyone but to sell flowers as she was told. But it was worth it. She would have never met 'him'.

She was alone with her thoughts, even arguing with herself, but being careful to not say one word aloud, _"He was so handsome. Does he like me? Will he come back to find me and spend more time with me? Air benders travel the world, silly. Of course he'll come back for me. And maybe he'll take me away from here. He has to. If only he can find me. I'm not in town selling flowers."_

She dug harder into the fertile soil and grimaced sadly. Even though she wished for his return to happen more than anything, she knew it would never happen. He was important. He was an _air_ bender. He had 'secret missions' to do. He had better things to do than talk to one peasant girl in a tiny village far from Republic City so destitute she sold flowers to make ends meet. She was stuck here, and with each day she got older, she faced an inevitably bleak future.

…

Meelo landed on the outskirts of the village as before, so as to not cause a big commotion, and sent Pepper to go graze in a field for awhile. He didn't disguise himself. For a moment he remembered his family history that during the 100 Year War, in nearly every town his Grandfather and his friends had to hide and disguise themselves, _except_ in the Earth Kingdom. There Aang could be himself, and in all but a few towns, he was considered a liberator. The Air Nation had been considered liberators again as they, with the new Avatar, had defeated Kuvira and the Earth Empire.

"_So be yourself,"_ he reminded himself quietly.

This was definitely the village where he met her. He tried to remember all the streets he and his sisters walked to find the specific street corner that she peddled the flowers. While he searched, he attempted to be nonchalant about it, and waved and smiled at passersby. He made it to the intersection where they met. The tea house sign said "The Old Goat". That was hard to forget. His mother would have been very amused at his father's expense and he snickered.

"_This has to be it,"_ he thought.

He stood on the corner for what seemed hours, looking cool, greeting townspeople like he owned the place and was always there on that corner. But as the hours rolled by, he got increasingly impatient, rocking on his feet, leaning against lampposts, and wringing his hands.

The local constable's deputies, making their rounds each day, started to give him greater scrutiny. So he walked a few blocks in either direction before he decided he needed to be less conspicuous. When he returned, he sat at the Old Goat Tea House on the street corner and nursed a tea and fruit tart from an outdoor table where he could see her if she walked up. His parents gave him enough Earth Kingdom currency to get by for a few days, but he had to make sure he didn't use it all up at once. The tart was acceptable, but not as good as his mother's recipe, directly handed down from his Grandfather.

He sat there long after the third cup of tea and the second tart disappeared. The waitress urged politely, "If you are done, air bender, you'll have to move along, please. We need your table for other customers. This is our busy time."

"OK," he said with no argument. He paid his bill and walked away.

He went back to the edge of the forest where Pepper was, ate the wrapped dinner his mother prepared, and slept. He repeated his search of the streets of the village not one day, but two, and a third.

On the third day, the constable himself confronted him, "Son, I know you air benders help with problems, but there aren't any problems in this village anymore thanks to your kind, so what are you doing here?"

"Well, sir. I'm looking for one of your citizens. I want to repay her for her kindness in our search for Avatar Korra a few months ago," he replied and showed the man Tuyen's image on the poster. He'd followed his mother's advice and not plastered the town with posters, but was beginning to regret that decision.

"Yep. I've seen her, but not for a few weeks. She sells flowers once a week to make ends meet. Like the others. They don't talk much to people. They're no trouble, though. Good luck in finding her, young man. _That_ one is especially pretty. She reminds me of my daughter."

"_The others?"_ he thought, but didn't press what the lawman meant, but he did say, "Thank you officer. I don't intend to cause any trouble either, sir. I just want to find her and then be gone."

The middle-aged man smiled at the polite young man, and offered, "I'll let my deputies know that, and perhaps they can point her out to you."

"Thank you sir," Meelo noted and they departed.

So, the constable confirmed she was there regularly, but now she was gone. At least she wasn't a dream. He had to admit it was unusual for a little girl to be selling flowers all by herself. There were so many unanswered questions, and he contemplated, _"Who was she? Where were her parents? What was she? Who are 'the others'?"Is she a drifter, someone in a group, with no home in the village, or a girl with a family?"_

But apparently his thoroughness and patience paid off. On a corner a few blocks away from his chat with the constable, he noticed a long-haired girl dressed in green with a basket of flowers. He was instantly excited and thought, _"There she is!"_

He rushed up to the girl, but was quickly disappointed. It was different girl selling flowers.

He was very polite, "Hello, Miss. May I ask you a question?"

She didn't want to talk, and turned her back on him, "I don't talk to strangers. I just sell flowers. If you don't want to buy one, please go away."

That happened several more times with other young women. They all dressed like her and all had long tresses like her. He was rebuffed each time.

But there was one more. He was more impatient and he pulled out his poster of Tuyen, "Excuse me please, but have you seen this girl?"

The girl got a very surprised look, scanned around her nervously and answered in a whisper, "Yes. That's my 'sister' Tuyen. You're that air bender boy she likes, aren't you? She's back at the monastery orphanage working off her punishment. She got in big trouble over you."

Her statement said so much in few words. It startled him in a variety of ways, and he blurted to the girl, "Trouble? Punishment? A monastery? An _orphanage?_ Where is it?"

And the most important part, he thought, stifling his joy and desire to shout out loud, _"She likes me?"_

The young teenage girl was very nervous and brushed him off, "That's all I can say. Please buy a flower from me or I will get in trouble like her."

He did, and thanked her twice. For the flower and for the information.

She turned away from Meelo quickly and continued to sell her flowers to other people. He tried to engage her again about the location of the orphanage but she simply ignored him.

Meelo thought all the girls had acted very strangely, but he could understand that an orphanage headmaster would want his girls to be wary of any strangers. There had been many awful things happen in the Earth Kingdom for some time. A refuge for orphaned girls, however strict, would be a good thing for girls' safety in an often lawless land.

"_Well so be it. I will find the place myself,"_ he thought, a little perturbed at the girl.

He walked out of the village and climbed up on Pepper, who was finishing a snack, and they flew back into the air in the rural areas surrounding the town. They reconnoitered locations all around the village at medium altitude to get a wider vista of the area around the settlement.

He had nearly exhausted the most likely areas to search, when he saw a vast field of yellow orange flowers. There was a single green dot in the middle of it. It was a human laborer. His heart skipped a beat. The dot had long hair and a long green dress. He suppressed his expectations though, as all the other girls from the monastery orphanage had been dressed and coiffed the same.

He landed softly and silently in a clearing adjacent to the fields, next to a pile of gardening tools. The girl had her head down tilling the land, and did not see him land.

He floated to the ground, and strained to see her. She was too far out in the field to be certain. But he had to know. So he took a deep breath to slow his heartbeat down, and took a chance.

He called, "Tuyen?"

In total shock, the girl startled and dropped her garden tool, stood, and turned to his voice. He could see her surprised face. Meelo's heart skipped a beat as he thought, _"It's really her!"_

She thought, _"It's really him!"_

"Meelo!" she exclaimed.

She ran to him, but stopped short a few feet in front of him. She stood completely out of breath like a giddy schoolgirl, but in point of fact she _was_ a giddy schoolgirl in his unexpected presence. She had no idea what to do with her hands. It was very clear that each one wanted to hug the other, but they each hesitated. Their eyes certainly met and locked and communicated how happy they were to be near each other again.

Tuyen was brave enough to begin, "Hello Meelo. It's so good to see you again."

Meelo gave her a nervous happy smile and fidgeted, as he replied cheerfully, "Hello Tuyen. It's good to see you too."

They were awkward but charming at the same time. They weren't really sure quite where to take the conversation beyond 'hello'.

But at least they were together again and they'd think of something.


	3. Chapter 3 - Getting Acquainted

**Tuyen and Meelo Chapter 3  
**

**Rating: T for romance, discussion and evidence of violence, abuse, and threatened assault**

...

Tuyen had no idea what the social customs were for boy and girl interactions for air benders, but girls giving the impression of throwing themselves at boys was nearly universally inappropriate in their world, so she started with a sincere apology, "Oh, dear. I shouldn't have run. That was quite impolite of me. Forgive me for being too forward with you, Meelo."

He just smiled, "It's all right. I wanted to run to _you_, too."

"Really?" she responded with her eyes lighting up.

"Yes really. I missed you, Tuyen," Meelo smiled back.

Both shifted nervously on their feet and fiddled with their hands. He had to touch her somehow. He bowed and signed the standard cultural greeting, but also reached out to shake her hand as some cultures did. She let him conduct a handshake with her. His hand was warm and strong. They lingered in letting each other's hands and fingers go. Tuyen wanted to touch him again.

"I… um… missed you too, Meelo. I'm glad you came back. I didn't think I would ever see you again. Meelo… you… uh… kind of made an impression on me. I've never met someone on a secret mission before. Was it successful? Or can you even tell me, since it was secret?" she giggled.

Meelo decided instantly that he really liked her infectious giggle, and even more the feeling of how the name 'Tuyen' rolled off his tongue.

"Yes, my sisters and I found the Avatar and she kind of saved the world, and I helped her do it."

She mused, "You seem pretty young for a boy on secret mission with the Avatar to help to save the world."

He lifted his head proudly and declared, "Well… I'm nine. That's _plenty_ old enough. Avatar Korra's only 21."

"That's nice Meelo. I'm just 11."

He was grateful she wasn't even older. It appeared that she didn't consider him a little kid like 11 year old Ikki did.

But then he farted, and turned red of embarrassment, and laughed a little, "Oops… I'm so sorry. I kind of do that when I'm nervous around… um… pretty girls."

She covered her mouth and giggled again, but with him, not at him, and he heard her fart too.

She blushed and explained, "Uh-oh. Well, truth be told, I do that too, Meelo. I'm a little nervous too. Excuse me."

Even if she had forced it to set him at ease, everything was just fine. But he was still worried about their two year age difference.

Just to make sure age wasn't an issue, he asked directly, "Is it OK for a nine year old boy to be friends with an 11 year old girl?"

She smiled and complimented him, "It's OK with me. None of my friends have ever met an air bender. And besides you act _older_ than nine. Your uniform makes you look really grown up, too."

_"And even more handsome,"_ she thought.

He beamed with pride over that, and remembered to not brag about himself by explaining, "My big sister Jinora and our older friend Opal designed our uniforms. We were all tired of using the old fashioned gliders to fly."

"You have a very talented older sister and friend. I can see why you are _so_ mature."

With the age difference issue clearly settled by her compliments, Meelo asked, "Thank you, Tuyen. Umm…. but… I know this is sort of personal, but why weren't you at the village selling flowers? I've been here for three days."

While Tuyen was very pleased that he'd been searching for her three days already, and hadn't given up and gone home, she displayed considerable discomfort while she admitted vaguely, shifted, and looked at her feet, "Well, I disobeyed the Master, and he made me stay home and work in the fields. It's OK, I guess. I like working with the flowers that me and the other girls sell. It's like the flowers really respond to my care."

Meelo immediately responded with a heartfelt compliment, "That's cool, Tuyen, why _wouldn't_ they? You're so beautiful that if I was a flower I'd want to grow up around you to be more beautiful too."

Feeling the earnestness of his praise, she deeply blushed, "Oh! You are very kind, Meelo. Thank you."

No one had ever told her she was beautiful, and yet Meelo had several times now. The Master criticized her all the time, and she didn't actually think she was pretty because of him. Though lately his staring was making her feel uncomfortable.

The way Tuyen responded to him warmed Meelo's heart. It amazed him that he hadn't said something really stupid or grossed her out.

_"There is still plenty of time to blow it,"_ he warned himself silently.

"But Tuyen, why did your Master punish you?" he asked, noting she did not use the term Sifu.

The words had two entirely different connotations. Her particular Earth Kingdom pronunciation and inflection of the word 'Master' denoted a very strong authoritative figure to the point of being a tyrant. He knew the subtle differences in the similar languages of the Four Nations well, and since the Air Nation was composed of people from the other three, it was required in Air Acolyte class to know all the other languages. Plus a number of dialects.

She swallowed hard, "I sold a _lot_ fewer flowers that day than ever before. I… umm… kinda didn't think about much else that day after meeting you, Meelo," she blushed and admitted, "I told him that I met an air bender boy. The Master reminded me we're not supposed to meet strange boys, especially _air bender _boys. They um… aren't our… uh... religion."

"And yet here you are again meeting a strange air bender boy," he grinned.

She smiled back, "But you're _very_ nice. Not strange at all."

Meelo could tell that despite her kindness to him, she was really nervous answering these questions, so he lightened up a bit, "I met a couple of your friends in town. I thought they were you."

"I understand. At the orphanage we have to _all_ dress and look alike. It's the Master's _rules."_

Wing suits and the traditional acolyte and Air Nomad-style garb did in fact make members of the Air Nation look a lot alike, but her comment meant something different. It gave Meelo the creeps. All the flower girls in town did in fact look nearly exactly alike. He remembered Grandmother Katara's stories of the clone-like, brain-washed multiple Joo Dee's in the worst days of Ba Sing Se. It seemed to Meelo that 'the Master' made a lot of unnecessary rules. And it was even odder that a man ran a girls' orphanage, apparently by himself. At Air Temple Island, like the ancient Temples' monks and nuns, women guided the girl acolytes and men mentored the boys, but nowadays there was no single adult in charge of any of the children all of the time and usually the genders all learned together. The adults and some gifted youth like Jinora took turns as 'head counselors', a good change from the ancient Air Nomad past.

Meelo ran out of questions, and he didn't want to seem like he was interrogating her. It was time for something fun together, which was the original plan, and he asked "So… Tuyen. What would you like to do next?"

That was a perfect invitation to Tuyen to find an excuse for them to hold hands, and she took his hand in hers and swept her free arm in the direction of the vast flower beds, "Let's go for a walk. I'm pretty much done gardening here. I want to show you the fields I tend. The ground is really uneven, so could you help steady me, Meelo?"

Meelo had to admit that was the cleverest excuse to hold hands ever. Even Kai hadn't used that alibi with Jinora. The feeling of her soft hand in his was exciting. They didn't let go. It didn't take long to change from simply holding hands to entwining fingers and they smiled at each other silently when that happened, just to get the mutual assurance that it was OK. It was _very_ OK to Meelo.

They walked for hours. She knew every inch of the fields. She explained every growing condition, wind directions, rainfall, and the health of every flower in the field. At an especially impressive cluster of flowers, they bent down to caress the blooms together and were very close together, with both hands completely touching as they examined the petals. It was a near-perfect situation for both of them. Meelo wasn't entirely sure what was softer and prettier – the petals or her hands in his. She smelled wonderful like the flowers for which she cared. He hoped she didn't mind that he smelled like sweaty bison fur.

As they continued to tour the flowers hand-in-hand, Meelo heard his stomach do a very noticeable growl. It was once again embarrassing. He was angry at himself that his mouth was behaving while courting Tuyen, but his body was not cooperating at all. She giggled again, but not in a criticizing way.

He quickly recovered, "Tuyen, are you hungry?"

"Oh yes, _very,"_ she quickly answered, but didn't tell him that the Master forced her to not eat for three days so far. She was amazed her stomach hadn't growled first, and she was willing to take the risk of more punishment to share a meal with Meelo.

"I brought some food. My mom made it. She's the _best_ cook. Sorry, it's vegetarian. That's what we air benders are."

"I _would _like to try your mom's yummy vegetarian food," she encouraged him.

He whistled and Pepper came right to them. He immediately munched on a few of her flowers. The great beast really amazed her, and she had no fear of it.

Meelo fruitlessly tried to stop the air bison, who found the flowers delicious, _"Stop_ that Pepper! Those aren't yours to eat. You didn't_ ask!"_

Tuyen laughed, "It's OK, Meelo. We can spare a few. There are lots of flowers. Those are actually good for him."

Meelo floated up to Pepper's back on an air vortex, and recovered the food bag, and returned. When he handed her some veggie wraps, they both made sure to touch each others hands again, and she made the touching last longer by asking Meelo to help her unwrap her food and his carefully, to make sure she didn't drop anything. He understood the implication and didn't rush. They sat leaning against Pepper's furry, soft flank. She scooted close enough to brush up against him, using the excuse that she was sitting on a rock. Meelo was ecstatic but played it very calmly. He couldn't believe his good fortune that this older girl wanted to hold his hands and be close to him. He remembered his Grandmother Katara was two years older than Grandpa Aang.

To make it seem like she meant to sit that close, she said, "Pepper's warm and fuzzy. So gentle for something so huge. I've never seen an air bison before. They must be _very_ intelligent."

Meelo confirmed that, "In some ways, they are more intelligent than we are. Most air bison bond with just one air bender for life. Almost every tame bison will let anyone fly them if they trust you, but that's not like bonding. Pepper adopted our whole _family."_

Letting another compliment sneak into her conversation, she stated, "That's one smart air bison. So how many of you did he adopt?"

"Mom and Dad, my two sisters, and baby brother. He's gonna have to adopt another one soon. My big sister Jinora thinks Mom is pregnant again. She's been getting sick lately in the mornings and not letting Dad know."

"Wow… that's a _really _big family."

Meelo knew he needed to stop talking about himself, so he asked, "Um, how do I say this, since you're an orphan, Tuyen, but do you have any sisters or brothers with you at the orphanage?"

"It's just me. I don't have _any_ family left. It's OK, Meelo. I'm over it now. It only hurts a little. My parents and big sister died in the bender purge a few years ago. The Equalists here couldn't debend people like Amon could, so they… um… took matters into their own hands."

"Oh… I'm so sorry, Tuyen. Is there anyone else for you?"

"There were for awhile, but they are gone too. That's how I ended up here at the orphanage. My aunt's family was imprisoned by Kuvira's people for fighting in the resistance against the Empire. They haven't returned home yet to look for me. I heard the re-education centers were terrible. I… l don't know if I will ever see them again."

This time she couldn't fight back the tears.

He hugged her to comfort her, and she accepted his embrace willingly, "How have you been surviving?"

"I wandered alone for months, and I was very afraid of bandits and starving, but there was a kindly Earth Bending Master who went around and took in all the surviving orphan girls at an old monastery, and we have been together like sisters ever since with him as our 'father'. We raise and sell flowers in this village and several others to pay for food and supplies. We have a belief that life can rise again from the earth in honor of our dead parents and family. The flowers are a symbol of that."

A distressed look was in her eyes, though, Meelo noticed.

Meelo saw that look and asked, "Tuyen, do you _like_ being in the orphanage?"

She looked around as if someone was watching and dodged the question, "Meelo, what is life like back at _your _temple?"

"We're a collection of families that live together as a really big family called the Air Nation. People come from all over the Four Nations. We have a couple of orphans like my friend Kai. He's a _new_ air bender when the spirits brought balance to the world. A lot of people come to us now with that gift and we help them learn to use it properly. Most people in the Air Nation aren't air benders or benders of any kind, and they just come because they believe in what we say and how we live."

"That's not really how we live here, but tell me more about your life," she noted carefully.

Catching her nuance again, he explained, "We live and play and study the air bending scrolls and we get to travel the world helping people. For those with the gift, we practice our air bending all the time and we learn to fly in our wing suits instead of the old way with gliders. Family is very important and that's the biggest change from the Air Nomads to the Air Nation. My grandfather was an orphan too. He was the last air bender for awhile. Family and marriage was _very _important to him. My grandmother Katara and he had three children. One of them is my dad. My uncle is an air bender now too, because of the new balance in the world. My grandpa would have been very proud."

"Your grandfather was Avatar _Aang?"_ she asked incredulously, putting all the pieces of his story together.

He shrugged, "Yes, he was, Tuyen. Does that make a difference?"

She got very nervous, "Yes it _does,_ Meelo. That makes you like… air bending _royalty._ I… I shouldn't be here with you. I'm _nobody._ Nothing. I'm not even a bender of _any_ kind."

"No you're _not,_ Tuyen," he almost scolded, "You're every_ bit_ as equal to me. Bender or not. That's the _one_ thing the Equalists got right. No one in the Air Nation is better than another. _No one_ dominates. Not even my dad. He's a Sifu – a _teacher._ Not a king or a ruler. We are _all_ brothers and sisters whether we are benders or not, although my real baby brother and two big sisters can be really pesty at times."

Tuyen settled down from her worry and even giggled, "_Your_ life must be nice."

There was a hidden tone in her voice about something lacking in the way her people lived. Meelo was perceptive enough to pick up that cue, and took her hands in his. They were shaking and clammy, even at midday under a hot sun.

He scrutinized her and asked seriously, "Tuyen. What's your Master _really_ like?

She looked away and whispered, "I'd rather not talk about that."

"Please?"

She couldn't resist talking to someone she knew she could trust. She hesitated but kept it simple, "Well… he gives us everything we need to live. Clothes. Food. A place to sleep. Something to believe in. A routine and discipline. We tend the fields and do our chores, and if we mind we get to go into the village to sell."

"And that's all?" he asked.

She whispered, "Yes. As long as we obey him."

Meelo concluded, "Sounds like it's pretty boring. All you know is the monastery, the fields, and the village."

He realized he just criticized her way of life.

She just shrugged, "Pretty much yes. It's good enough life, even if it isn't as exciting as yours."

He looked into her eyes and apologized, "I'm sorry I said that Tuyen. But if you could, would you _like_ to travel?"

She was excited at the prospect, and encouraged him, "Oh yes, I would. I _want_ to know what the rest of the Earth Kingdom is like. Even the other Nations."

Meelo saw his opening, as he said, "Would you like to go to the Air Temple with me?"

He said exactly the right words she wanted to hear, but she denied it, saying exactly the right words someone else needed to hear, "Yes… but I can't. _Ever._ The Master would not approve me leaving the monastery."

Cheerily, Meelo suggested, "So let's go meet the Master. I bet_ I_ could convince him to let you travel. This is an orphanage, not a prison."

She flinched, but he didn't notice.

Meelo continued, "It would be only for a few weeks, and then I would bring you right back. You could stay with Ikki. She's _your _age."

"I remember her being with you," she said to encourage his offer, and also remembered Ikki was the one who cut their conversation short the first time, just when it was getting interesting.

Meelo continued but forgot himself and bragged a little, "It would be like a little family vacation. I'm pretty good at that kind of thing. I talk my Dad into doing stuff he doesn't want me to do _all_ the time. You just have to know what makes adults tick and make them feel good about letting you do the one thing they_ don't_ want you to do at all."

She laughed at his joke. Meelo was so funny. She wanted to do what the air bending boy suggested in the worst way - only never come back again - but she made excuses, "It all sounds so wonderful, Meelo. But… uh… I'm not sure that would be a good idea. The Master doesn't like outsiders trying to persuade him. And he doesn't like others' way of living, doesn't want us to mingle with the other races, especially other benders, and wants us to live _only_ the way we believe."

Meelo heard the sadness in every word she said and inquired, "What's _actually _going on here, Tuyen?"

He was too persistent and she was really worried about the consequences of saying too much. She stiffened in her tone and attitude, and removed her hands from his, "I am not permitted to say. Perhaps it is best for you to _leave _now_,_ air bender."

The way she was looking around made it seem that the woods behind them had ears. It was clear to Meelo what she was saying was not how she really felt. Her eyes and expressions betrayed her.

Meelo thought of a solution. He knew she really didn't want him to leave, "I have an idea, Tuyen. Pepper, come here."

The big animal prepared for flight. It was clear without saying a word that Meelo was going to take her up in the air. Tuyen had the look of relief in her eyes but said nothing.

Meelo reached to put his hands and arms around her waist, but stopped, knowing it required a very personal touch, and sought her permission, "I need to help you up."

"You may, Meelo."

He grasped her around her waist and they air bent up in a swirl on Pepper's back. She was thrilled by his strong grasp around her, and the gentle breeze that blew her long hair around.

She giggled, they sat next to each other on Pepper's soft head, and Meelo snapped the reins. He ordered, "Yip, yip, Pepper!"

They were soon in the air. Meelo started to let go of her waist and she encouraged him not to release his grip with a big smile and a believable excuse, "No, Meelo. Keep hold of me. I don't want to fall off. His fur is slippery."

In point of fact Pepper's fur was not slippery, but Meelo didn't let go. He was excited and added his other arm around her still holding the reins, which was exactly what she wanted. She smiled at him as she sat contentedly with his arms around her while flying and leaning against him. For the first time in a very long time, she felt safe. This was too good to be true for Meelo. This was just like Kai and Jinora did. Only better because it was Tuyen and him doing it.

Soon, they were very far up in the air.

As they ascended she looked all around them and exclaimed, "This is amazing. What a view of the fields!"

She loved the feeling of the wind through her long hair and closed her eyes to just feel it. Meelo liked the sight of it trailing out behind her, and being so close to her. The strands tickled his cheek and neck and nose. She savored the coolness of the high altitude air.

They turned to each other barely inches apart.

Meelo let Pepper more or less take them where he wanted in the air above the village and challenged her, "Tuyen, _now_ you can talk. Whoever was listening is 2500 feet below us."

Her relief was palpable, and she was thankful that Meelo was so perceptive of the constraints in talking on the ground. Her words came rapidly as she could speak, like she was completely out of time to do so, "Oh Meelo, _thank _you for noticing. We are watched _all_ the time. Somehow the Master can hear everything we say. It's like he feels it somehow through the ground. Thank you for getting me away so I could tell you. We can't stay long. He will punish me again. This time worse. If he can't hear me for long in the fields he sends someone to look for me. If I ever ran away he'd hear my footsteps and track me down. Several other girls tried that. A couple have disappeared. Some of the girls enforce what he commands."

Meelo keyed on her punishments, "How _much_ worse, Tuyen, than working in the fields?

She sniffed, "The last time I was locked in a windowless cell for a month, and fed me awful spoiled food. I was sick for weeks. And lost a dozen pounds."

Meelo was horrified, "That's _awful_, Tuyen."

"And this…" she stammered as she pulled up her pant legs and blouse sleeves. Her limbs were beautifully shaped. But they were covered with bruises and cuts. And even burns.

"He does this. Some of them are left over from when he hit me the day we met. The older girls hold us down while he punishes us. I think some of them like it when he punishes us."

He couldn't belief what he was seeing, "Oh dear. Is everyone under the same threat, Tuyen?"

Tuyen confessed, "Yes, Meelo. All girls of all ages. The Master gives 'special treatment' to all the older girls. I hear them crying in the night. I'm almost that age, Meelo. I've just started my cycle. I'm afraid."

"Uh, what does he… oh…" Meelo started to ask innocently, and then he immediately understood.

Meelo was furious at the Master for his treatment of Tuyen and her 'sisters' and vowed, "This can't go on a single day longer, Tuyen. This is really _really_ bad."

"What are you going to do? What can you do?" she asked fretfully.

"I'm going to free you _all_ from the Master," he stood proudly and flexed his muscles, "It's time for the Air Nation to save the day _again,"_ he stated and ordered instantly, "Poki, go get Dad and Uncle Bumi and Kai and the girls. We need help. Right _now!"_

The lemur moved faster than he had ever seen him fly.

While she had hope for the first time in years, she was very worried, "I'm sorry Meelo, but you're just a boy."

Meelo confided, "I'm the boy who helped take down Kuvira's giant mecha suit. I personally blinded its windows. That slowed it down enough for Korra and her friends to take it down."

"Oh? _You_ did that?"

"And all the people in my family I just called for help," he replied and remembered to be humble.

Her spirits soared. This amazing boy could do it, but she started to panic, caused by the lasting effect of being captive for years and totally dependent on a deranged man, "What will we do Meelo? He's terrible, but we're all alive because of him. We owe him our lives."

"No you _don't._ Not one little bit, Tuyen. Not at that price you just told me and showed me that he wants for your 'protection'."

"But he _saved _us…" she cried. There was no term for 'Stockholm Syndrome' in the Avatar world, but she was clearly suffering from it.

"No he didn't. Piece by piece he's taking your lives away. Your freedom. Your privacy. Your _bodies._ There is always room in the Air Temple for twenty new Air Acolytes. You will be safe there."

She began to see the way out she so desperately wanted since they met, "You'd do that for all of us?"

"Yes. That's what air benders do. That's what I do. For _you,_ my friend Tuyen."

The sound of the appellation 'friend Tuyen' felt really good to her. She'd never been friends with a boy. The only other male in her life terrified her. She wanted so much to be friends with this boy. This wonderful, handsome, kind, friendly, strong, and funny boy. Emotion overwhelmed her.

She pressed against him with a hug. An incredible thrill coursed through him with her in his arms, and she felt it too. This was an entirely different hug that earlier when he comforted her in her grief. This was a boy/girl affection hug.

Her words came out in great, heaving sobs as they embraced, "Thank you for coming back, Meelo. Somehow I knew you would save me. And save _us."_


	4. Chapter 4 - Confrontation

**Tuyen and Meelo Chapter 4  
**

**Author's Note: **Thanks to very kind support of this story and comments. I know this ALOK pairing is not as popular as many others, but these two need their closure too. It sure has been fun to write about them in a real adventure, not just some simple fluffy romance (hold that thought…).

This chapter is again a good solid T for violence and threats, _especially_ as a caution for my younger readers.

…

As they landed at the orphanage, Meelo held her and they floated down softly in a vortex together from Pepper. For a moment Tuyen squeezed his hand very tightly for a moment, they looked at each other for reassurance, and then they released their grip and walked across the grounds to the entrance of the orphanage.

Tuyen was extremely nervous about the confrontation with the Master and the consequences to Meelo and to her if the boy failed. She wasn't at all sure she should have let him do this, and knew just being with him a second time was trouble enough in direct disobedience to the Master. No matter what happened, Tuyen would face severe punishment, as she was showing interest in a male who was not the Master, not to mention that he was not part of the family.

Her 'sisters' doing chores on the grounds noticed her and Meelo approaching, and some even greeted her. Several observed that Meelo was as handsome as she had told them secretly, but most just stared in silence wondering what terrible thing was going to happen next. They all remembered what happened the last time a nice male stranger came to the monastery. From Meelo's body language, it was clear to everyone this was going to be a challenge. Several girls ran for safety inside the monastery. Others prayed for deliverance by the air bender.

Meelo could sense Tuyen's mounting fear and whispered, "We could just run away now and you'd be free of him forever."

"We _can't_ Meelo. The other girls would be punished because of me. We're supposed to keep each other in check. Those that fail are punished, by the girls who are commanded to be enforcers. They do some cruel things even without the Master's prompting."

Meelo's resolve hardened and he said, pointing to the sky for emphasis, "Then we're going to stop this now. For everyone. Air benders to the rescue!"

Tuyen fretted, "But Meelo, he's a powerful earth bender and others have tried and failed. We don't know what happened to them," she drew a very deep breath, "But a couple I have seen with my own eyes…"

Meelo tried to assure her without bragging too much, "Tuyen, I'm a powerful _air_ bender too. The Master has never encountered anyone like me before and I've sparred and fought _plenty_ of powerful earth benders, including metal and lava benders. And I even kicked the snot out of Equalists. When I was _four."_

By plenty he meant not just Korra and Bolin who he sparred with all the time, but also Suyin's children, and of the full brunt of Kuvira's military might in the Battle for Republic City with the other air benders. Since earth bending was the opposite bending power to air bending, earth benders often had their hands full when facing an air bender who was knowledgeable of earth bending techniques like Meelo was. There were still only a handful of air benders in the world to practice against.

…

The Master knew they were coming. He knew they were coming from the minute Meelo landed in the flower fields. The minute Tuyen dared to open up about what really happened here, even in her veiled comments. The Master had an exceptionally sensitive form of Toph's and Lin's and Suyin's echo sense, but at a much higher level of discernment - he could hear conversational vibrations through a person's body transmitted through the ground on virtually any kind of surface whether it had vegetation on it or not. He had used that to his advantage in finding and attracting lost, despondent girls to the orphanage. The Master thought he had a unique edge over the air bender, but the Master had no idea other earth benders had a similar echo sense that Meelo knew about, and had figured out how the Master 'heard' every girl's conversation all the time.

The Master was already angry at Tuyen for even meeting Meelo again and was generally angry at all the flower girls for not telling him that the air bender had been in the village for three days. All the flower sellers would be punished for not telling him the boy was back and looking for Tuyen. What made him more angry was that just when Tuyen was about to spill everything, the conversation got garbled and then abruptly ended, no matter how hard he tried to listen into the vibrations of their vital signs and reverberation of their conversations through the ground. The Master did not know that by sitting by Pepper, his huge heartbeat, digestive noises, and breathing had obscured much of the kids' lunchtime conversation. Thus, the Master was unaware Meelo was Tenzin's child.

Seeing the children arrive by air bison through the windows, the Master immediately understood why he could not hear them anymore, and assumed she had completely confessed about the real story of the 'orphanage'. He had to admit the air bender was persuasive and charming, which is why he hated the boy so, and the others like him who would seek disrupt the perfect order of the orphanage.

The Master thought he had Tuyen better 'conditioned' to reveal nothing, but she had always been trouble since coming into his care. This boy had caused her to be smitten with him, and strongly influenced by the air bender's blasphemous sense of what was right and wrong between boys and girls and adults. With Tuyen, 'love was blind' when it came to this boy.

The Master grinned, realizing what the perfect punishment for her after this. Tuyen would never stray again or be attracted to boys or be attractive to other boys if she couldn't see. More importantly, the townspeople would take more pity and buy more flowers from a blind girl, helping the orphanage. It was a great plan and wondered the most painful method was to destroy her sight without killing her after this detestable encounter with the air bender, to be conducted in plain view of the other girls to make sure no one ever strayed again.

But first he would deal with the 'do-gooder' air bender. He hated their kind, always butting their heads into other people's private affairs that was no business of theirs. This one was no different, and seemed bolder for one so young.

The Master walked down the three floor stone staircase from his study confidently through the inner courts of the monastery. The girls hard at work with their chores knew something was coming as he strode with purpose past them, some of them having just been outside. He could sense everyone's apprehension. He singled out the air bender boy's heart rate and breathing.

_"Overconfident,"_ he observed silently.

The Master, Meelo, and Tuyen stood face to face at the main entrance to the orphanage. To give some semblance of normalcy and to not begin with a direct confrontation, which his father would have strenuously objected to, Meelo smiled, bowed deeply, and gave the universal sign of greeting, "Greetings from the Air Nation. I am Meelo."

"Greetings to you also, Acolyte Meelo," replied the Master returned the sign curtly, "What business do you have with our humble orphanage, air bender?"

"My journey here was originally to find Tuyen and say thanks to her helping us find Avatar Korra. I did that."

The Master tried to get him to leave by asking, "You 'did that'? If your business is complete with us, then you should be on your way, air bender."

Clever word games always challenged Meelo, and he grinned, but this was a very high stakes game of words. He hoped, like his father was such an expert at, to keep it _only_ to a war of words.

"My business isn't finished."

The Master suggested, "And so what is it now? Perhaps you would like some flowers for the Air Temple?"

Meelo politely declined, "Thanks, but no. We have our own gardens. But sir, you do have the most beautiful flowers here at your orphanage."

He glanced at Tuyen and despite herself she blushed. The Master sensed the exchange, and ground his teeth. This boy was treating this like a game.

The rest of the girls were amazed at the Master and the boy's verbal sparring. The boy was so intelligent. Most conversations with outsiders degraded into combat quickly. Thus far the boy had said nothing that could be misconstrued to provoke the Master to strike, despite clear double meanings. Even the Master had rules.

He replied calmly, but challenged Meelo with a darker tone, "Then what could we _possibly_ offer you, young air bender? This is an orphanage. Most of the girls and young women have come to us savaged by violence to their families, perpetrated by men or _boys_. This is a refuge for them, and I protect them from those with terrible intent. Why do you cause Sister Tuyen to stray from her beliefs by your overt courting of her? Has she not told you the way things are with male _outsiders?"_

Tuyen was frozen in place. The Master had felt their flirting and affection.

"Indeed she has, headmaster. _That_ is why I am here," Meelo said, with a much more serious tone.

Meelo noticed the Master was moving his feet to get a 'read' on him and Tuyen. Remembering what Tuyen told him while airborne, Meelo understood the Master's talent was more subtle and sensitive than Lin and Toph and Suyin were able to do with their echo sense. He started a small vortex that raised his own feet an inch or so off the ground, breaking the Master's ability to sense him and anticipate.

Seeing this, and breaking lock on the boy's vital signs, the Master seethed but revealed nothing.

_"The boy knows. Damn him. I have to move faster,"_ he thought.

The Master knew the boy understood what was going on in the monastery, so it made no sense to cover it up any longer. The boy was clearly another misguided savior of the girls. So many gallant and well-meaning people perished here with that goal, and he sneered, "It seems you're 'sweet' on one flower in particular, Acolyte Meelo."

He pointed at Tuyen for emphasis and she jumped and proclaimed loudly, _"This _one. Are you here to ask for Sister Tuyen, or do you simply plan to take her over my objections?"

Meelo answered quietly, "If I wanted that, headmaster, then I would have left with her already."

The Master was becoming more upset, "Then what _do_ you want, boy?"

Meelo stated calmly, "I wish to make her safe from harm, as well as _all_ the others."

The Master was growing tired of the word play, which the boy was better at than he was, "Safe from _who? _This orphanage has seen no attacks from the outside since its founding."

Even Meelo knew that was a lie.

Meelo nearly whispered, "Safe from _you_, sir."

From hidden positions, with those words, all of the girls not locked up who were watching or listening tensed up and looked for cover. This young man was very different than any other who would seek to save them, but feared it would all end the same. For the older girls who knew air benders defended, dodged, and avoided attacks, they were impressed that applied to their negotiation skills as well. The air bender youth was trying his best to avoid a conflict, and they admired Tuyen's boyfriend.

The Master chuckled chillingly, dismissing Meelo's accusation, trying to cast doubt on Meelo's opinion of Tuyen, "Well Acolyte Meelo, it seems Sister Tuyen has been telling you tall tales and stories about me, because of her _own_ misbehavior. She is very prone to such things. She is a chronic liar and would do or say _anything _to leave. Especially by telling believable stories to _gullible_ young men like you. I bet you didn't know _that _about her, did you? Perhaps it is best for you to leave now air bender, and we will forget this conversation ever happened. You and your people have better things to do to serve humanity. Rest assured that people like _me_ and institutions like _this_ are dedicated to the very same thing you people do. Air benders don't have an _exclusive_ life's calling on helping others."

Meelo turned to Tuyen and saw absolute fear in her eyes that he might abandon her and what punishment was coming. She shook her head indicating everything the Master said about her was a lie itself.

Meelo had to admit this man made a compelling argument that Tuyen was not telling the truth. It almost made him doubt the story she told him aloft. Almost. Her bruises and cuts belied the Master's words, and imagined the others had the same kind of damage. Meelo concentrated on what had to do.

The young air bender was insistent, "Taking her from here is _precisely_ what I plan to do. With or without your permission. As well as the others. I won't let you _hurt_ these girls anymore."

The Master startled. It was very clear he knew everything. It was time to drop the veil. The boy wouldn't live long enough to tell his fellow air benders or do anything about it. Just like all the others. Even if he was only a boy, acting far too much like an adult.

The Master cackled, "Sorry… no can do. Tuyen and all the others are mine for the taking. Whenever and however I want."

Meelo could see now the true horrific nature of the man unveiled. This man was particularly nasty and flaunted his ownership of the young women. No wonder they all lived in fear.

"Let her go. Let them _all_ go. I'm on to you, Mister."

The man hated that the boy disrespected him and flippantly defied his authority, and that the girls could hear the challenge. He had to crush this boy. Literally. To show them that anything less than total respect and obedience to him had the ultimate price.

The evil man explained angrily, "That's _Master._ You know from her I can't do that. It's against our beliefs. We're _one_ family here. Forever. They are all staying here. They are each other's family and _I_ am their Father."

Meelo replied, "This is not a family she wants to be part of any more. I don't call _my_ father 'Master'. What's wrong with that picture?"

The Master ignored him and threatened, "You know that you just being with her means she's in a lot of trouble. Worse since she's obviously told you the way things are around her."

He talked past Meelo for a moment and looked directly at Tuyen with furious eyes, "We don't talk about our family to outsiders, _do_ we Tuyen? How _much_ did you tell him, Tuyen?"

She couldn't look at him but stammered defiantly, "I won't tell you."

"Yes you will. I will _make_ you after I am done with him. By going for help, once I deal with this boy, I will make you one of my special girls. I've wanted you for awhile anyway. And I have something _else_ special in mind for you after that."

She collapsed to her knees sobbing in great fear. Meelo put his arm around her for comfort.

The man's voice was hypnotic. Meelo had to shake off the false soothing and compelling nature of it himself even with the threats. No wonder the Master had such control over them.

"No, you won't!" Meelo was ready for a strike from the Master but had yet to take any combat or defensive position. The boy would not start this, but he was losing control of the escalating argument.

The Master snapped with derision, "Who is going to _make_ me, air bender? Certainly not _you._ You're a little boy. The bones of many would-be rescuers, including parents and brothers and _boyfriends,_ fertilize these gardens, boy. My bending powers are supreme here."

"Until_ I_ walked in the door, pervert. Attack _me_ and I assure you that it's earth bender butt whoopin' time!"

Meelo's verbal goading infuriated him, and he screamed, _"Enough_ talk!"

It was the Master who struck first. The man lashed out at Meelo, directing a half dozen boulders and chunks of earth from the entrance grounds and gardens directly at him.

The girls scattered for safety in all directions. Meelo immediately defended himself and with strong air columns. He dodged and flipped away from the flying debris, all the while deflecting the objects, and blew Tuyen in a protective vortex over to Pepper who immediately hid her behind his flanks. The bison growled at the earth bender.

The Master was indeed a formidable fighter, moving quickly and blowing chunks of stone from collapsed sections of the decaying monastery, and trying to erect blocking slabs of rock to limit Meelo's movements. But the the boy was faster. Each time Meelo dodged the walls that threatened to surround him, deflected flying rocks them with air blasts, or even smashed them with air hammers and shock pulses. The fight went on for minutes and with each attack of the Master, Meelo countered with constant dodge and feint and deflection moves. More frustrating to the Master was that Meelo was a smaller target than the adults he had vanquished. Meelo was starting to get through to the Master with some blows of his own. And the boy's stamina was better than the older man, and was lightning fast in his leaps and bounds, flips, rolls, twists and turns to avoid being hit.

The Master got more and more frustrated with the boy, who managed to get some very painful two-fisted air thrusts to him like Korra taught him, knocking the man off his feet and backwards for yards several times, smashing him painfully against his own rocks, but the man relentlessly got up, set his feet, and sent more earthen volleys back at the boy. The Master barely dodged a supersonic concentrated air slice that ripped the sleeve off his robe, and it gashed his arm deeply. The Master had no idea air could do that, and groaned. Another blast by Meelo was directed at the sharp gravel path to the monastery, stirring up a dust storm of rock at the Master that peppered and cut him in multiple places. He yelled in pain and anger. Air benders weren't supposed to have offensive moves.

The Master knew that one on one it was a stalemate and he would wear out long before this boy, so he thought of a different strategy. He turned and directed a huge boulder directly at Pepper, who was huddled around Tuyen and could not use his powerful tail to deflect the massive rock without injuring her.

"No!" Meelo screamed.

Meelo leaped into the air and pushed a huge column of air at the gigantic rock with all his might with both arms and both feet. A monstrous air slice emanated from his hands and feet. The rock was smashed in half by the shock wave and each half deflected around Tuyen and Pepper rolling far into the forest, taking down several 100 foot oaks, splintering them into matchsticks. Unfortunately a crumbling portion of the boulder hit Pepper in the head hard, knocking him unconscious.

Tuyen clutched her face with her hands at Meelo's saving her, but was very worried that his bison was injured.

It was everything Meelo could do to deflect the boulder and he collapsed to the ground, spent, with a bounce and a grunt. In that moment of defenselessness, the Master caused rocks to rise up and encase the boy in rock, immobilizing him up to his shoulders. Meelo squirmed fruitlessly to free some part of himself to bend again. The Master, to feed his ego and grip on power over the girls, wanted the air bender boy to witness the helpless horror of own demise.

For the first time, Meelo felt the same fear as when Amon was about to debend his entire family.

Tuyen screamed as the Master rubbed his palms together in gleeful satisfaction and chuckled, approaching the immobilized Meelo, "It's the end boy. Prepare to meet the other do gooders like you."

The Master took a stance to prepare to crush the boy in his stone restraints, but slowly to increase the air bender's – and Tuyen's - pain. The girls would see the bloody end. He knew they were all watching. And hoping. But the Master also knew that by crushing this boy, he would crush their hope.

Then he could deal with the bison, whose meat would feed them all for months.

And after that, Tuyen.


	5. Chapter 5 - Finality, Family, and Fluff

**CHAPTER 5 – Finality, Family, and Fluff**

**Author's Note: **Rated T for the conclusion of the violent battle between the Master and Meelo, followed by what we _all_ want: more than a little Meelyen romance… among _other_ pairings! :)

**…**

The fundamental flaw in the Master's attack was that he had not gagged Meelo, so he could hear his victim scream better. Gathering his senses and composure after deflecting the monstrous boulder, Meelo realized he was trapped and was starting to feel the pressure of the rocks starting to be compressed around him.

Thinking fast, Meelo took an enormous breath and exhaled as hard as he could directly at the Master. Even his father knew the difference between the time to defend and the time to attack. He created a swirling maelstrom twenty feet across that vacuumed the Master off his feet, spinning him wildly and sending him backwards and sideways screaming into the wall of the orphanage. The man dented the stone, hitting face first, breaking his nose, teeth, eye socket, and fractured an arm and collarbone with an ugly crunching sound, and loose stones fell on him from above, slicing his scalp. Meelo kept the Master pinned to the wall with successive breaths, but he would get loose soon, and would be able to bend again. Meelo was getting light-headed, and knew if he kept breath bending he would hyperventilate and faint. He knew he didn't have his father's stamina yet at age 9.

The girls were open-eyed in astonishment, having never seen the Master in any kind of defensive situation at the hands of another bender – much less be hurt by one - and never witnessed the true power of an air bender, who were always characterized as weak and timid by the Master. Tuyen was joyous watching Meelo take down the Master. She rubbed Pepper's aching head to revive him and he slowly responded to her touch, with some weak, pained lowing. She dabbed the bloody gash on his head with her apron, soothing the great beast.

Still restrained by the rocks sealed tightly around him, the boy puffed up his cheeks, held his lips closed tightly, compressed his stomach hard with a strong grunt, and he unleashed a belch that could be heard in the village miles distant. A pulse of air so dense that everyone could see the condensation shock pattern came forth from his mouth.

"Brrrrrraaaapppp!"

The concentrated force of the wind stream was so strong that a sound like thunder followed it and echoed in the forest, shaking the tree branches, and loose stone from the monastery's ancient walls fell. The girls outside witnessing the battle shielded their eyes and held their dresses from all the hurricane force wind, dust and rubble blowing up. The others protected themselves behind windows and walls of the old monastery.

The air mass from Meelo's monstrous burp smashed the Master against the wall again harder than before, this time breaking a leg and a wrist, ripped a huge gash in his forehead, blew rock and stone around him, and tore loose the vines growing on the walls of the monastery. As if the concussion was not enough to render the Master senseless, it nearly caused the man to gray out with the stench of wild onions on Meelo's breath from the wrap he had for lunch. The Master was helpless and nearly unconscious, pinned under a pile of rubble, unable to move or bend.

The older man ached literally everywhere.

_"Never_ underestimate the power of burp bending," Meelo announced proudly even though he was still trapped. The girls restrained themselves from cheering. The air bender was _winning._

But Meelo knew he had to get free before the man revived and resumed his deadly attack. Seeing that the rocks were sealed tight around him, he knew what he could do under those circumstances. The boy closed his eyes and strained hard, grunting and straining his lower body with all his might. The sound of an enormous muffled fart was heard, and then a slight pause, and suddenly the stone restraints surrounding him flexed outward, vibrated violently, and then exploded into a multitude of small chunks and gravel spraying everywhere, freeing him. The flower bed immediately next to Meelo wilted in his stench. Inside the monastery dishes rattled, vases and cups fell over, and tapestries fell from their hangers. Tuyen was very glad she was upwind of Meelo's world record flatulence.

The boy silently gave thanks for his ample supply of natural sources of gas, _"Thank you, Mother, for your bean, cabbage, broccoli, onion, and asparagus veggie wraps! I will never complain about them again."_

Meelo rose up, stepped away from the pulverized rock restraints – and his own odor - and in a ballet of graceful moves, moved the air around the fallen orphanage headmaster to cause the dangling vines to completely hog tie the Master and gag him. The man screamed in pain as his broken arm, leg, wrist, and collarbone were roughly restrained by the air bender. Silently, the girls had no sympathy for the Master's discomfort, remembering vividly the anguish he'd had caused on every one of them countless times. Meelo knew that the man would not be able to bend living vines, and he could not take a chance the awful headmaster could bend earth with his tongue, the only thing left that he could move.

And then, it was over. Meelo stood with his legs shoulder-width apart and balled his fists on his hips like a conqueror. Safe with Pepper, Tuyen cried tears of relief, and the great beast licked her cheek gently, eliciting a giggle and grateful smile as she rubbed his nose. Meelo stared down the now-helpless and mostly groggy headmaster.

"Who has who _now,_ Mister?" he announced and raised a triumphant eyebrow. All around him the boy could hear pleased sighs from the girls.

Regaining consciousness fully, the Master uttered a muffled roar of rage that he had been completely subdued by a 'mere air bender boy'.

The Master's gagged exclamation was not the only roar heard at the monastery. Tuyen looked up, recognizing the sounds. Diving in from overhead, Tenzin and an army of air bison and air benders descended _en masse_ on the ancient orphanage. Up the rocky road to the monastery came the local constable and his deputies in several police Satomobiles. A metal-bending deputy smashed open the locked gates with a deft sweep of his arms and the lawmen pressed forward. Several deputy constables leaped from their vehicles and quickly put the Master in irons rather than the vines, made of platinum in case the Master was a metal bender.

The grounds were suddenly crowded with vehicles, bison, air benders and lawmen and frightened but relieved orphan girls who were collecting on the entrance grounds. They knew the nightmare was over. Tenzin leaped down from Oogie and went straight for Meelo, grabbing him by both shoulders.

"Are you all right son?"

"Juussst fine, Dad," Meelo smiled with a very satisfied smirk and roll of the eyes.

This time the old Sifu knew it was true. Meelo's characteristic bravado was well earned.

They stood back watched as the lawmen checked out every inch of the monastery, being directed by the constable Meelo had met in town. The deputies freed over 30 children and young adults. Shockingly, that included toddlers and babies with their mothers, whom the Master sired with the older girls. Some of the youngest were boys, wearing long hair and dresses to hide their male gender from the Master's wrath against boys and men. They were all freed from a hidden and metal-gated underground nursery. It was also clear some of the other school-age orphan girls were older offspring of the Master.

One of the deputies came out from the lower catacombs with an ashen face and he said grimly, "Chief, you need to get the coroner here, sir. It's _really_ bad way down there."

There were an unthinkable dozen bodies in the catacombs, those who got sick or were killed or just simply gave up hope. And some of the remains of people who had tried to free the girls before, and failed. Getting the remains removed honorably was a grim operation for the lawmen.

All the time the Master looked upon the work of the deputies and other volunteers silently and defiantly.

The constable gave the Master a furious look, "We've been looking for a reason to lock you up, headmaster. Your dirty little secrets have finally seen the light of day thanks to this air bender and your bravest girl."

As the constable's deputies led the Master away, he sneered and yelled through his gag, "You haven't seen the last of me, air bender!"

Constable smirked and interrupted, "Oh yes you_ have_. You don't know how we deal with your kind. You should have thought of that before torturing and taking advantage of these innocent children, and killing those who would have saved them."

The constable provided a visual demonstration to the Master of his coming judgment. The head lawman impaled an apple-grape on a sharp tomato-zucchini stake in one of the vegetable gardens, earth bent up two small garden flagstones which floated near his hands parallel to each other surrounding the fruit, and made the rocks move in a clapping motion smashing the delicate apple-grape between them, and then ground the sides of the flat rocks together. The resulting pulp dripped down the inside of the rocks and the wooden skewer.

And then the constable looked at the Master with a very satisfied grin.

The evil man blanched and swallowed hard knowing his excruciating fate.

The Master was dragged screaming off in chains by deputies, and the constable turned and smiled at Tenzin and Meelo, "Which one of these girls is Tuyen? Every one of these girls we've talked to credit _her _as the one who dared to tell."

Meelo smiled at her and gently indicated, "Over there sir, by Pepper. That's her."

She blushed and looked at the ground.

The constable could see her shyness, so he beckoned her gently, "Please join us here, young lady. Your friends say you saved them by telling this young air bender all the bad things going on here."

She quietly said with a slight smile, not really meeting his look, "Thank you, sir. I guess I did."

Receiving praise and compliments from males of any sort was still something new to her, especially kind-looking adult males. She petted Pepper and thanked him for protecting her, which elicited a very happy grunt. Meelo was pleased. Air bison were pretty choosy about befriending non air benders. She came over and stood very close to Meelo, and they exchanged subdued relieved and happy looks. Meelo very discreetly slipped his hand into hers. She felt infinitely more confident standing with the son of the Avatar and the constable with a big smile on her face now. Tenzin noticed but said nothing. This was the right thing for both of them.

The constable spoke to the three of them, "Sifu Tenzin, you and your air benders deserve our village's praise. Your son and this young woman did some mighty fine work here in discovering the true nature of the orphanage headmaster. Things haven't really added up here for years."

"Our pleasure constable."

The Constable gave a great big affable grin to the 11 year old girl, "Tuyen, you are _extremely_ brave. You faced death by approaching a total stranger to help."

"Thank you sir. I… I always knew what the right thing to do was. I believed I could trust Meelo with my life. I was right."

She squeezed his hand.

Tenzin simply smiled at the cute, innocent devotion growing between them.

"And Acolyte Meelo, you're a _real_ hero. I know we just met the other day when you looked like a lovelorn puppy-chipmunk only wanting to meet this pretty flower girl again."

Meelo completely turned red, Tuyen covered her mouth with a cute giggle, and Tenzin just bit his lip. She was very happy that the constable called her 'pretty'.

The constable knew he'd get a reaction out of the children, but was not done with his praise,_ "Thank you_ young man for coming back to our town, knowing something wasn't right, and taking the risk to save these girls. I was _wrong_ to tell you we didn't have any problems here in our town. We_ did_ and we didn't even know it, thanks to you."

"I'm _honored_ sir," the nine year old bowed and signed in thanks to the lawman. But he couldn't wait to rub it in Ikki's face that he was 'a hero'.

With the praise complete, it was time to take care of some delicate, unfinished business. What to do next now that the girls were free. As a result of the years of abuse, they were all in very fragile condition mentally and physically. Many were breaking down already with the threat of the Master finally removed, and were getting counseling and guidance from the air benders and deputies.

The constable sighed, knowing the magnitude of the task, and he said, "So let's find these girls' homes, Sifu Tenzin."

Tenzin responded, "We're glad to help with the girls with your deputies and the townspeople. We have to reunite those with family here or from where they were abducted. If they have any. For those who truly have no family here, or don't want to stay, we'll invite them to come with us, but we won't force anyone to do something they don't want to. We have the resources to try to find their original families at Air Temple if they were abducted from far away."

"That's a good plan, Sifu."

The two adults shook hands in agreement.

"That reminds me. Tuyen?"

"Yes sir," she said cheerily, having heard the plan, and now knowing she was on her way to her new home.

The handsome boy she wanted most to go home with was waiting right now beside her, and he was holding her hand, and had saved her life.

The constable bent down eye level with her. She felt immediately comfortable talking with this older, hefty, but jolly-looking man. His countenance was kind and friendly, something she'd never seen in the Master, as he spoke quietly, "You know, young lady, I know you've had a very hard life. You were always sweet and kind selling flowers in the village. I have a daughter at home. She's 7. She always dreamed of a having a nice big sister. You gave her flowers several times just to make her smile. Our home is open to you."

She was very flattered and didn't really know how to turn down his kind invitation, "I remember, constable. She is really sweet. I am very grateful that you asked but, um… if… if it's all the same to you, sir… I… uh…_ already _have an offer for a new home, to join a _really_ big family."

She unconsciously showed the constable her joined hands with Meelo. Tenzin raised an eyebrow, but was pleased.

The constable stood up and smiled at Meelo and Tuyen, and laughed, "I understand. If _I _were you, I'd go to Air Temple Island with him _too_, Tuyen."

"Thank you sir," she said and her cheeks turned completely red.

She smiled at Meelo, and it was his turn to blush.

The lawman turned to the Sifu, "In fact I bet _everyone_ will, Tenzin, for those who have no family here. I know you'll give them a good life, air bender."

And then the constable ordered his men pleasantly, "Open up the monastery gates!"

All the anxious townspeople who had been restrained from entering until the crime scene had been cleared up streamed into the orphanage. The villagers had gotten word of the liberation of the orphanage and its true nature and came in droves throughout the day. The townspeople rallied and cheered Meelo as they entered the grounds. The villagers had hopes of finding their unexplained lost ones who might be imprisoned deep within the orphanage, never being let outside the walls like the flower girls and those who tended chores for the orphanage. Some had been kidnapped without a trace and were not orphans. The reunions of many girls with parents or relatives was very bittersweet and highly emotional, some separated for years, especially for some with new babies or toddlers to bring home to suddenly new grandparents and siblings. Some unfortunately went home only with memories or in grief for their departed. Each of the reunited families talked with the deputies who made records of all the family reunifications, took statements to be used against the Master, and then went home to begin the long healing ahead. They all thanked Meelo and Tuyen for the pair's courage profusely as they departed for their homes.

But there were a number of real orphans that remained, though a few of them went home with other families to become part of reunited families, having formed a strong sisterly bond with one or more of the abducted girls in the orphanage.

For the true orphans like Tuyen, and those girls closest to her, the air benders were everywhere trying to comfort and tend to their recovery. The deputy constables were mostly to help the air benders with counseling or ask questions about what happened next. Mostly female air benders had come, including Opal and Meelo's sisters. They knew these mistreated young women mostly needed female companionship more than anything to help recover from the horror of the Master's dominance.

Pema wanted to come, but had to tend to Rohan, who at three was as much a handful as his older brother, especially being a brand new air bender. No vase in the Temple was safe.

While the female air benders sought to comfort and counsel the remaining dozen or so girls, Tuyen knew they needed help. More importantly, she knew Meelo and his dad needed a little private time.

She excused herself, "Meelo, I need to go talk to some of my 'sisters'. I'll be fine. I promise. _You_ were all I needed to be OK again."

He got a goofy look and grin as she hurried off. She was beautiful from any angle, and he watched her walk away. Tenzin saw that.

Meelo turned to his father and said, "Dad, thank you for letting me come here, and for getting here at just the right time. It would have been hard to keep fighting. But how did you get here so fast?"

Tenzin rolled his eyes a little, "Well, son, I have to admit your mother was a little worried about you being alone, so… ah… me and the girls… and Kai and Opal thought we should be nearby. We trusted you, but we were all a little worried. Poki found us on his way back to the Air Temple, and so here we are."

Meelo tried to be mad but gave his old man a hug. He whispered something in his father's ear, and his father smiled and nodded yes. He hugged him harder.

Tuyen wasn't gone long, and nearly skipped back to him and his dad. Tenzin was struck by Tuyen's beauty. As good as Meelo's renditions of her on paper were, she was even more beautiful in person.

Tenzin cleared his throat and asked, "Meelo. We were all a little busy earlier with the constable. I believe we need a formal introduction here, son."

"Dad, this is Tuyen. Tuyen, my dad, Tenzin, _Sifu_ of the Air Nation."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tuyen," Tenzin bowed and signed her graciously. Her cheeks got warm. The Master never respected her in such a way.

Returning the greeting, she said, "I am very honored, Sifu Tenzin, son of Aang. Um… may I speak frankly sir?"

"Why of course, Tuyen. We always speak our mind in the Air Nation. With no _consequences_," he added.

She smiled in relief, "Your son saved my life and my 'sisters'. You air benders have much honor by defending the helpless, Sifu Tenzin."

Tenzin noted how poised the girl was, "I'm very proud of Meelo, Tuyen, and it's our pleasure to have freed you from this terror. It wouldn't have happened without you, Tuyen. You are a very brave young woman to trust Meelo with your nightmare and to defy this terrible man."

"You are most kind, Sifu Tenzin. Meelo made me feel confident enough to tell only him. He is a very special boy."

"Awww, gee, Tuyen," Meelo blushed.

They noticed all the remaining girls who had chosen to come with them had gathered what little they had and were very ready to leave this nightmare monastery. They gathered around Meelo and Tuyen. They looked with anticipation.

With that as a cue, Tenzin noted, "We can talk later about all of this," and he stood aside. Ikki, Kai, Opal, and Jinora watched with Tenzin from behind the crowd of girls.

Meelo and Tuyen beamed at each other, as they stood with her 'sisters'. Tuyen stood and proudly placed her arm in his. All of the girls were proud of Meelo and were relieved beyond measure, and they smiled at the young air bender. Their nightmare, many for years, was over. Even the girls who were forced to help the Master do horrible things. There were a lot of tears and hugs and relief.

Meelo struck a triumphant but not egotistical pose, "The Master is arrested. He won't hurt any of you _ever_ again."

There was a universal cheer.

A six year old who knew no other life than the hellish conditions with the Master asked with worry, "But what will we do now? We're all alone again, Sifu Meelo."

He liked being called 'Sifu' for the first time, which raised an eyebrow on his dad's face. Meelo bent down and soothed her long black hair and she smiled at him like he was her big brother. Meelo wondered how long the girl had any kindness done to her.

Meelo spoke with a wisdom well beyond his years to the little girl at first but then to all of them together, "I know you don't have anyone for you anymore. We don't want you to be lost or lonely, or have more trouble. My friend Kai here…" who then motioned and bowed at Meelo's prompt, "…is an orphan too. And he found family – and his girlfriend – my oldest sister - with us air benders. Now by the spirits, he's an air bender too. You are all welcome to join us at the Air Temple. There you will find love and friendship and family. Some of you may get adopted if you want. We have several young Air Nation couples who want children but can't, and many more nice couples in Republic City who want to adopt."

There were some very happy murmurs about that, especially by the six year old who hung on every word Meelo had said.

Tenzin was impressed. His young son was eloquent, and every one of these girls trusted him because of his rescue.

"Do we have to be air benders to join the Air Nation, Meelo?" asked a 15 year old.

"No you don't have to. Most aren't. It's still a rare gift from the spirits. We're really Air Nation in our hearts."

Everyone was really happy with his explanation.

Tenzin added, "If you want to join us you may, but we will never force you, and we promise we'll take you wherever you want to go."

"Where are _you_ going, Sister Tuyen?" asked the young teen flower girl who had helped Meelo, pretty sure of her answer already.

_"I_ am going with the Air Nation and with Meelo", she said with a huge but very confident blush, let go of his arm and took Meelo's hand, which in turn made him blush.

There was a lot of laughter and amused chatter among the air benders mixed in behind the girls about Tuyen taking Meelo's hand, as well as the orphan girls. Jinora was watching it all, holding Kai's hand, and was extremely proud of her little brother. Every one of the orphan girls chose to become air acolytes. It was a joyous day. The group started to break up, and get ready to depart the orphanage forever.

As the others departed, another young teen came up to Meelo and Tuyen, demonstrated a very rudimentary air vortex, and announced proudly, "Look Sifu Meelo, I can _air bend!_ Will you teach me? Tuyen? Can I train with your boyfriend?"

Her choice of words was deliberate, and the two girls exchanged knowing looks. In the great rebalance of the world, the spirits had chosen the 13 year old girl, who had suppressed her abilities in complete secrecy so as to not be punished by the Master. Or worse. This came as a surprise even to Tuyen.

Tuyen blushed, "My dear friend. What you do with Meelo and his teaching is between you and him."

Meelo wanted to include both of them in this, so he explained, "Tuyen, you can watch and learn too. My dad taught my mother many different exercises and stretching movements, and she isn't an air bender. I can teach you too."

"I would love that, Meelo," Tuyen replied.

Both Tuyen and Meelo already liked the implication from her friends that they were 'together'.

Ikki came up to Tuyen and got better acquainted. All her words came rapid fire without a single breath in between, "Hi Tuyen you're very nice and really, _really_ brave and I'm sorry I took Meelo from you the last time but it was very important to keep going to find Korra and we did in the swamp and I wanna be friends and I know you're 11 too although there are some things about my brother you _gotta_ know if you're going to his girlfriend because you gotta know what you're in for like his farts but he's a really good artist and has he shown you his portraits of you so anyway I'm the one to tell you so when we get home we can have a slumber party with all your sisters and the other Air Acolyte girls together in the girls dorm with _no_ boys so I can tell you all that stuff and how to be an Air Acolyte. OK?"

Tuyen could barely keep up, and had no doubt no girl would ever sleep – much less ever get a word in at one of Ikki's slumber parties - but she understood enough to reply, "Yes Ikki! I'd love to."

Meelo scoffed, "Good luck with _that…"_ which got him an elbow in the ribs from both girls and a good laugh.

Tuyen had never had a slumber party since she was little with her big sister.

Ikki had a sly look in her eyes, and asked Tuyen to come help her with something. Completely satisfied she had everything arranged, Ikki bounced off to chat with another orphan girl. Meelo got a worried look.

Tuyen reached for and soothed his arm, and smiled, "Don't worry, Meelo. I _know_ she means well…"

Tuyen went off to join up for a few minutes to join Ikki and to pack for the journey to the Air Temple.

That left Meelo and his father alone together again, "I'm proud of you Meelo, but I should punish you for taking on that Earth Bender 'master' alone."

"He really wasn't all that talented dad. I've fought worse. Kuvira's people. And I spar every day with better earth benders - Korra and Bolin."

Reflecting on who he had to fight and how nobly and fearlessly he fought including his brave attacks against the leviathan, "I guess so, son."

Tenzin stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Maybe we _should_ start talking about those tattoos…"

"Really?"

"Really…"

Tuyen reappeared with what little in the world she possessed. It was austere even by Air Nomad standards, but his eyes went wide seeing her dressed in an air acolyte outfit. She looked very pretty in the yellow, orange and tan tunic. She had a look that Tenzin knew required his presence elsewhere, and excused himself abruptly. This was their first time alone since flying.

She proudly modeled her new clothes with a big grin, "Well, Meelo, how do I look? Ikki gave it to me. It was a spare she had in her backpack."

Her long brown hair really set the new outfit off, as she turned around to show him. He nearly fell over.

_"Wow,_ Tuyen, you look… um… fantastic!"

"Thank you, Meelo. It feels really good on me."

She had little else to carry, and had already dumped her despised green dress in a trash fire to be burned with all the other orphanage dresses and forever forgotten.

Meelo asked, "Is that all?"

"It's everything I have in the world, Meelo. Life is not about _things_, but is about the value of friends and family you keep in your heart."

Meelo smiled, "You are going to be a _great_ air acolyte, Tuyen."

She blushed at his compliment. It seemed every compliment from him did that to her.

Tuyen spoke very seriously and tenderly, touching his arm, "Meelo you _did_ save me. All of us. It was 'Air benders to the rescue' just like you promised. I _like_ a boy who keeps his promises."

She kissed him on the cheek, and suddenly his eyes lit up and he whirled around into an air vortex, and the gusts blew her pretty hair and curls every which way. She laughed hard, seeing him so happy.

Tuyen gave him a mock surprised look, and pretended to get tongue-tied, "Goodness, I'm really glad I just kissed your cheek. I don't know what would have happened if I really err…um… well..."

That was clearly an invitation.

Meelo got that debonair playboy look and asked suavely, "'Want to find out, _beautiful?"_

She giggled remembering their first conversation and with no hesitation, went for it.

She puckered up and bent over shorter Meelo. He got up on his toes, they closed their eyes, and they leaned happily but awkwardly into their first kiss.

They kissed each other full on their mouths. They made sure they didn't miss by embracing too.

It was like a lighting bender had hit both of them. They hugged and he spun with her ten feet off the ground in a big whirlwind. She looked how far up they were and laughed, as they softly touched down.

Tuyen was completely flushed with the rushing emotion of her first kiss, "Goodness, Meelo. I've never had a boy _really_ sweep me off my feet like that before."

Meelo was equally taken by the feeling of her soft lips on his. Her cute phrase was trite and obvious but it didn't stop them both from laughing hard about it as they stood face to face with fully intermingled fingers from both hands. They bounced from their giddy reaction to each other's kiss.

She was also really dizzy from the twirling or the kiss or both but was not sure and really didn't care. They steadied each other. The only thing they could think was '_that felt so good'._

Their eyes sparkled at each other. They started to lean again but Meelo hesitated a moment, and asked, "Is a _second_ one too forward?"

She just smiled and said, "Here's your _answer,_ air bender!"

They kissed again. It was as good as the first, but longer, and they just stood quietly in their embrace after the second time. There was really something there between them.

Meelo's head was reeling, "Yeah. Wow. That's _some_ answer, Tuyen."

But Tuyen just smiled and asked, "What's next Meelo?"

"Let's blow this team bending joint and go _home_, Tuyen."

She couldn't have given him a happier smile.

"Show me the way," she said, and with his lead, they walked hand in hand toward Pepper.

That obviously answered totally Meelo's question of Tuyen liking him.

Tenzin and his daughters watched from afar, with smiles.

"Aren't they cute together?" noted Ikki. Tenzin merely stroked his beard.

…

The flock of air bison were cruising among the fluffy clouds on a beautiful day trip back to the Air Temple carrying a very full load of air benders and orphan girls. Everyone was excited and laughing and in constant conversation on their way home. Bumi was guiding one bison, regaling his young listeners with his typical tale tales, which caused his brother Tenzin to just shake his head. Directing another bison, Ikki was her non-stop talking self explaining about all the cool things they had ahead of them at the Air Temple and the comfort and camaraderie of girls' air acolyte dorms. Opal carried a load of older teens and they were in awe of her charm and friendliness. Bringing up the last bison full of girls was handsome Kai who seemed to dote on Jinora. The girls were amazed that she was already an air bending master. For the first time the girls could see what healthy relations could be between boys and girls.

The girls knew things were be different and immediately felt at home with the Air Nation youth and adults.

Meelo triumphantly was in the front of the bison formation astride Pepper's head, standing while riding Pepper like a chariot racer. Tuyen laughed, sitting behind him, admiring the boy who liberated her and all her friends. All her friends couldn't wait to get an air acolyte garment like hers.

"I'm going to _love_ being an air acolyte, Meelo," she sighed happily seeing everything and everyone excited around her. There was not one day of happiness at the orphanage but for the few days of freedom selling flowers in the village.

Recalling their earlier discussions about her interests, "We have the perfect spot for you, Tuyen. We need a new gardener. She retired with no one really to replace her. You can take care of _our_ flowers now. We don't sell them. We let people meditate and pray around them."

As he sat back down on Pepper's head, she scooted up next to him and he put his arm around her while the others watched it happen, "It sounds _wonderful_ Meelo. You know I love flowers and can't wait to see the Temple gardens. But I think I want to be even more than a gardener."

"Oh? What?" Meelo asked innocently, with great interest.

Tuyen turned to him, took his hands in hers and said softly and demurely as their eyes met, "Well… Meelo… let's find out _together."_

The young air bender almost flew into the air without bending.

…

**…Nine years later. Air Temple Island…**

Under an orange and yellow nuptial canopy, Tuyen and Meelo, now a newly married couple, kissed to the applause of a multitude of people, including most of her orphan 'sisters' from long ago and their adopted families. Many of the older girls were now married also, with Air Nation families of their own. The newlyweds smiled and noted silently that their kisses were no less magic to each other than that first time at the long-destroyed monastery.

Tuyen was resplendent in her long orange, tan, and brown wedding gown with its magnificent deep folds and train. It was Katara's. Meelo, who now towered over her, wore the floor length tan, brown and orange robes of a Sifu. His bald head and blue tattoos that he'd sported for nearly a decade were impressive. People remarked how much he resembled his father.

There was nothing like the pageantry of an Air Nation wedding. Every wedding was a personal family celebration, despite the amazing growth of the nation in the past decade due to the spontaneous air bending.

And the Air Family was present everywhere to celebrate.

A very pregnant Jinora held Kai – with his matching Master's tattoos - in one hand and a squirmy toddler in the other, who'd really rather play with the air marbles he'd just learned how to do than watch a wedding.

Ikki, with her own set of blue tattoos, and her new husband on her arm, smiled happily and a pleasant tear welled up in her. Ikki and Tuyen had been like twin sisters for over eight years. Ikki's struggle with morning sickness was to the point that soon her condition would be the next big family news, but she didn't want to steal the limelight from her little brother's wedding day.

Tenzin presided proudly over his children's wedding ceremony. His salt-and-pepper beard looked very distinguished – admittedly now more salt than pepper. Tuyen had truly become like a real daughter to him and he loved her dearly. The young woman insisted on him doing the ceremony despite the joyful tears he had to fight back all the way through giving them the vows. Tuyen was still the only one who could really control his wild-child first son Meelo.

Standing next to Tenzin was proud mother Pema. The band of gray running through her pretty brown hair had expanded much further, as she was clearly the matriarch of the Air Nation now. She held Rohan's and his little sister's hands, her last and only non-bending child.

Bolin and Opal were there with their stunning twin daughters, indistinguishable except that one was an earth bender and the other an air bender. Bumi and Kya stood at the back, with a very feeble Katara in a wheel chair. Honored guests of the wedding were the Krew: Asami and Korra looked on with admiration holding hands discreetly, along with Mako and Wu behind them.

…

Meelo and Tuyen were snuggled atop their wedding pad later that night in a remote seaside cottage far from Air Temple Island, with their wedding finery strewn about. Meelo enjoyed the first unclad sight of his beloved Tuyen. Her ankle length brown hair was draped across them both and it mildly tickled. He lovingly gathered her into his arms. The dim light of a single lantern flickered in the corner of the room highlighting her amazing curves, and she had never seen him more handsome.

Reprising a line from long ago, Meelo grinned and teased, "What should I call you besides 'beautiful', Tuyen?"

He watched a classic huge blush travel from the young woman's lovely face along the entire expanse of her unblemished body fully revealed before him.

"How about 'wife'?" Tuyen answered softly and lovingly, meeting his eyes, kissing him deeper than ever before as she pulled him even closer to her, leaving no distance between them.

**THE END**

**Author's Note: **Well there's how I think Meelo and Tuyen met, grew close because of adversity, and fell in love. Hope you enjoyed that. If so, let me know!


End file.
